I'm Published...Again

I just finished my second publication ever. My first publication was my intense Honors Thesis. It brought me honor and fame. Really, check this out. Because of my thesis I got to be a co-author in an article for an academic journal. I'm telling you, I am famous.

The second publication only made me famous at home. It is not so academic and has fun pictures so it is picked up a lot more at our house. Dad even wanted to buy a coffee table so we would have some place to display it. It is a book of the first year and a half of adVANCEments posts. I am so excited about it. It was so easy to make. I just typed my blog address into a book making site, chose a cover and paid my $35. Really, it was that easy. Ideally I will publish one of these every year and have a fantastic family history collection some day. I love blogs!!

Spring Break

We had a super fun Spring Break week. Here is a day by day account:

Monday we stayed at home. Dad did some prep for work and the kids did crafts. This picture is of Little L with some roses and a vase she made out of rose shaped pine cones, pipe cleaners and paper. It was all her idea, creative girl!!

Tuesday Dad and Mr. M went on a hike with the boy scouts near Tokatee falls. They got to see and hear underground waterfalls. Incredible!! It was a five mile hike, satisfying a Webelos requirement. They had a great time together.

That night we had the Davises and their five

kids over for dinner (they are friends of ours from Wymount days.)

Wednesday we went to a park with the Michaels and our home teacher, Bro. Burnham, and his girls. It was a beautiful day and we played with the kids for hours in the sun.

Thursday it rained and so we just hung out at home and goofed around.

Friday our friends the Humphreys (also from our Wymount days) and their five kids came to stay with us for two days. We had a great time getting caught up with them and our kids hit it off with all of theirs.

Saturday we went to some Falls for a hike. This picture is our kids and the Humphrey kids sitting by age. Mine are every other one...funny how it worked out. Later that day we took the canoe out on the river. The weather was so nice and the kids had a ton of fun paddling up the river.

Sunday we just relaxed and I took a looooong nap.

Three Down, Three to Go

I finished painting the boys room last week. It is the same tan color as the living room. It was nice to have the boys' room freshened up and smelling like paint and not other unpleasant odors :) I am half way there on my painting projects. Next is my room, then the kitchen and the downstairs. The bathrooms will have to wait for another year. They all have wallpaper and that is a bear I am not ready to tackle quite yet.

Jeans and a Haircut

Yesterday I went to the mall to return some shoes. I didn't find any that I liked but I did wander into a store having a sale on jeans and found some that I really liked. I have been waiting for jeans to go on sale at Maurices for a long time because that is one of the only places in my little town that has jeans with length of 35. I tried on a pair of Silvers and they were the best fitting, best looking jeans I have ever put on...but they are $72!!! The girl helping me was trying to convince me that it was a great day to buy them because the second pair was only $36, so my total for two pair of jeans would be just over $100. I wanted to tell her that I was a teacher's wife with five kids and that was half of my food budget for the week (what would we eat, food storage?) but I settled for the old standby, "My husband would kill me!" I can't bring myself to tell these cute store clerks how I really feel, that that is a vain waste of money, because maybe she was wearing a pair. My sisters are always telling me about clothes that cost a lot but this was my first encounter with a pair of jeans on my body with a price tag sticking out that was over $50. I came away with two pair of great fitting store brand jeans on sale for just over $20 each. That is more my style.

I also got a haircut that, including the tip, was less than $20. So today I got dressed, did my hair and felt like a million bucks but didn't spend it!!

Tackle Hugs

This is what happens when you marry a football player. The kids call this play time "tackle hugs."

Awards

Our two oldest were given awards this month. Lady K won a district art contest for the Celebration of Literacy week. She was excited to get a gift card to a bookstore as a gift for winning.

Mr. M has been busy in his Webelos den. He was awarded the Webelos patch along with four activity pins and a belt loop. He is having a lot of fun. His next goal is the arrow of light award. Who knew scouting could be so much fun not just for him but for me too. I love it.

Congrats to my oldest kids. I am so proud of you guys!

Lovely Lavender

This time it was only a three hour paint job. I did it in the morning while the kids were at school and the little kids were downstairs watching a movie. If you can't tell the top pict is the before picture and we chose a light lavender color. I flipped the girl's comforters over from the fuchsia color to the salmon color. The girls were thrilled with the result. I love lavender.

Reid's Vancouver Reception

The weekend following Ried and Heather's wedding they had a reception in Vancouver, Washington. My kids were delighted to have a chance to be part of the wedding festivities. The older girls spent a lot of the evening standing with Aunt Heather and Grandma in the line and helping Heather hold her bouquet. The boys and Baby R, of course, made sure that their dad was exhausted at the end of the evening and that they had sampled every item on the refreshment table...numerous times.